Pip's Manipulations In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

“I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought to be deluded.” ―Sarah Waters, Fingers. In the novel, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Dickens portrays Pip as a poor boy who, as the novel progresses, aspires to become a gentleman, but as Pip starts to obtain “great expectations” he realizes that almost everything he once had starts to disappear. Furthermore, Dickens explores how having great expectations can lead to disillusions and manipulations. Before Pip is granted an opportunity to achieve his goal, he visits Miss Havisham’s house, also known as Satis House. He is then labeled “a common labouring-boy” (62) by Miss Havisham’s tool, Estella. After

Jaggers. Pip soon receives word from Mr. Jaggers that his secret benefactor would like him to set off for London. Pip’s expectations of London are manipulated by Mr. Jaggers stressing how “the sooner you leave here—as you are to be a gentleman—the better” (151). This motivates Pip to promptly leave that very moment. Moreover, as days pass by, Pip becomes “dissatisfied” (153) with himself due to his absence away from home. Furthermore, when Pip arrives in London things are not as he expected. When he first observes Barnard’s Inn he realizes that the Inn is overall “dismal” (182). Since Pip was going to London to pursue his dream, he expected the city to be “high-class.” This expectation led Pip to a disillusion.
Later, as Pip’s days in London progress, Pip encounters his anonymous benefactor who voluntarily confesses his secret identity. He is a convict named Magwitch and he has been the source and cause to Pip’s dream development. Pip then refers back to his early expectation of “Miss Havisham’s intentions towards me” (344) being “all a mere dream” (344). He then discovers that he was manipulated by an illusion that was self-created. At this moment, Pip feels devastated because all along he has been receiving money from a convict and not Miss Havisham. Moreover, his dream of becoming a gentleman has been

He became determined to go to his closest friend, Biddy, and tell her how he lost all he “onced hoped for” (503). He also wanted to propose to her in manner where he confesses his mistakes and ask for forgiveness. As a result, when Pip got home it was too late. Biddy was married and happy with her husband. Pip’s expectation was once again a disillusion. Pip is happy for Biddy and does not interfere with her life for about 11 years. When he encounters her again, Biddy has a child who is named Pip. Moreover, Pip’s determination of his expectations in becoming a gentleman only brought him manipulations and disillusions. In Great Expectations, having “great expectations’’ can lead to disillusions and manipulations. These sufferings only greatly affected some characters and scarcely affected others. Dickens use of complex language and context develops many intricate messages similar to the idea that having great expectations can lead to disillusions and